Hawaii Property Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

Hawaii property tax is set and collected by each of the four counties rather than the state, so what you owe depends on which island your property sits on, how the county classifies it, and which exemptions you claim. Rates for the 2025–2026 fiscal year run from $3.05 per $1,000 of assessed value for owner-occupied homes on Kauai up to $13.90 per $1,000 for hotel and resort properties in Honolulu.¹ Payments are due August 20 and February 20 in every county, and missing a deadline by a single day triggers a 10% penalty.

Why There Is No Statewide Rate

Honolulu (covering Oahu), Maui County (including Molokai and Lanai), Hawaii County (the Big Island), and Kauai each set their own rates, define their own property classifications, and administer their own exemptions.² There is no state-level property tax. Every dollar collected stays with the county that collected it and funds roads, fire stations, police, and parks. Two identical houses on different islands can produce very different bills.

Rates by County and Classification

Rates are expressed as a dollar amount per $1,000 of net taxable assessed value. A rate of $3.50 means you pay $3.50 for every $1,000 your property is worth after exemptions. Across all four counties, owner-occupied homes get the lowest rates; investment properties, hotels, and commercial buildings pay substantially more.

Honolulu (Oahu)

Honolulu uses tiered rates for several classifications. Key rates per $1,000 of assessed value for 2025–2026:¹

Residential: $3.50
Residential A, first $1,000,000: $4.00
Residential A, above $1,000,000: $11.40
Hotel and Resort: $13.90
Commercial: $12.40
Transient Vacation, first $800,000: $9.00
Transient Vacation, above $800,000: $11.50
Agricultural: $5.70

The “Residential A” classification applies to higher-value residential properties that don’t qualify for a homeowner exemption. Everything above the first $1,000,000 jumps from $4.00 to $11.40, which hits owners of investment condos and second homes hardest.

Hawaii County (Big Island)

Hawaii County labels its owner-occupied category “Homeowner” and uses its own tiers for other residential property:¹

Homeowner: $5.95
Residential, under $2,000,000: $11.10
Residential, $2,000,000 and above: $13.60
Hotel/Resort: $11.55
Commercial: $10.70
Agricultural: $9.35
Affordable Rental Housing: $5.95

Kauai

Kauai uses a “Homestead” classification for owner-occupied homes, with the lowest rate in the state:³

Homestead: $3.05
Residential: $6.05
Vacation Rental: $11.85
Hotel and Resort: $11.85
Commercial: $8.10
Agricultural: $6.75
Residential Investor: $9.40

Maui County

Maui publishes rates annually and runs one of the most granular classification systems in the state, with separate categories for short-term rental homes, commercialized residential use, and time shares. Current rates are posted on the county’s real property tax website.⁴

How Your Bill Is Calculated

County assessors appraise every parcel annually at 100% of fair market value using comparable sales, lot size, zoning, building square footage, age, and condition. The assessment reflects conditions as of a statutory valuation date, typically January 1, months before you receive your bill.⁵

Your tax equals the net taxable value (assessed value minus exemptions) multiplied by the applicable rate. If your Honolulu home is assessed at $900,000 and you claim a $120,000 homeowner exemption, you pay the residential rate on $780,000. At $3.50 per $1,000, that comes to $2,730 for the year.

The Homeowner Exemption

The homeowner exemption is the single most important break for residents who live in the home they own. It reduces taxable assessed value by a fixed dollar amount and, in most counties, reclassifies the property into a lower-rate owner-occupied category. Failing to claim it can mean paying hundreds or thousands more each year.

Amounts and deadlines vary:

Honolulu: $120,000 for homeowners under 65 and $160,000 for those 65 and older. You must be 65 on or before June 30 of the preceding tax year to qualify for the higher amount. Filing deadline is September 30.
Maui: $300,000 for all qualifying homeowners regardless of age. Filing deadline is June 30.⁶
Kauai: Filing deadline is September 30.⁷
Hawaii County: Amounts and deadlines are published annually on the county real property tax website.

To qualify, you generally need to own and occupy the property as your principal residence. Counties evaluate intent to reside based on factors like occupying the home for more than 270 days per year, registering to vote locally, and filing a Hawaii state income tax return with a local address. You’ll typically need to provide your date of birth (for age-based exemptions) and Social Security number (to prevent duplicate claims). Once granted, the exemption usually renews automatically as long as you continue living in the home, but confirm with your county.

Other Relief Worth Checking

Counties offer additional relief for disabled veterans, people with disabilities, and low-income homeowners. Maui County’s Circuit Breaker credit is one example: if you have a home exemption and your property taxes exceed 2% of your total household income, you receive a credit for the difference, divided equally across your installment payments for the following tax year.⁸ Other counties maintain similar programs with varying thresholds. If you’re on a fixed income, checking your county’s full list of credits is worth the time.

Short-Term Rentals Change Your Classification

Renting your property to transient guests for periods shorter than six consecutive months pulls it out of the standard residential category and into a vacation rental or hotel classification that carries a rate two to four times higher.

In Honolulu, a transient vacation unit pays $9.00 per $1,000 on the first $800,000 of value and $11.50 above that, compared to $3.50 for standard residential.¹ On Kauai, vacation rental properties pay $11.85 versus $3.05 for homestead.³ Maui draws further distinctions: a “Commercialized Residential” classification applies when the owner’s principal residence also operates as a bed-and-breakfast or short-term rental under a valid permit, while a separate “TVR-STRH” category covers non-owner-occupied vacation rentals. Neither qualifies for a home exemption.⁴ Run the reclassification numbers before putting a home on any vacation rental platform.

Payment Deadlines and Late Penalties

All four counties use the same two-installment schedule. The first payment is due August 20, the second February 20.⁹ Payments can be mailed to your county’s finance department or made through the county’s online portal. Include your tax map key (TMK) number on any mailed payment so the county applies it to the correct parcel.

There is no grace period. If payment is not received on or before the due date, a 10% penalty is added the following day, and interest accrues at 1% per month starting the first day of the next month.¹⁰ On a $3,000 installment, missing the deadline by one day costs $300. Set a calendar reminder.

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Penalties and interest are only the start. If property taxes remain unpaid for three or more years, the county can sell the property at a public tax sale.¹¹

After a tax sale, the former owner has one year from the date of sale to redeem the property by contacting the purchaser directly and paying the full sale price plus 1% interest per month (12% annualized). The county does not mediate this process.¹² Once the one-year redemption period expires, the property belongs to the new purchaser.

Appealing Your Assessment

If your assessed value looks too high or your property has been misclassified, every county provides a formal appeal through a Board of Review. Relatively few owners file, even when the numbers clearly don’t match the market.

Deadlines and Fees

Honolulu: January 15¹³
Maui: April 9 (adjusted if it falls on a weekend or holiday), $75 filing fee¹⁴
Kauai: December 1–31, $75 filing fee¹⁵
Hawaii County: Check the annual assessment notice for the current deadline; filing fee is $50.

Miss your county’s deadline and you’re locked in for the entire tax year.

Grounds and Burden of Proof

The burden falls entirely on you to show the assessment is incorrect, not simply too high in your opinion.⁵ Recognized grounds generally include:

Overvaluation: the assessed value exceeds actual market value by more than a specified percentage. Honolulu’s threshold is 10%; Hawaii County’s is 20%.¹³⁵
Lack of uniformity: your property is assessed unfairly compared to comparable parcels due to inconsistent methods.
Denied exemption: you were refused an exemption you qualify for.
Illegal or unconstitutional methods: the assessment process itself was conducted improperly.

Strong evidence includes recent comparable sales, an independent appraisal, or documented physical deficiencies the assessor may have missed. Because the assessment reflects conditions as of January 1, your evidence should relate to the property’s value on that date, not the date you file.

If the Board of Review rules against you, you can appeal to the Tax Appeal Court by filing written notice within 30 days of the decision and paying the court’s filing costs.¹⁶

Taxes When You Sell

Two taxes tied to Hawaii real estate hit at closing rather than annually, so they don’t appear on your property tax bill but still need to be budgeted for.

Conveyance Tax

Hawaii imposes a conveyance tax on every property transfer, paid by the seller. Rates use a tiered schedule based on sale price, with lower rates when the buyer will use the property as an owner-occupied home and higher rates when the buyer is ineligible for a county homeowner exemption. For owner-occupant eligible sales, rates range from $0.10 per $100 of value on properties under $600,000 up to $1.00 per $100 at $10,000,000 and above. For non-owner-occupant sales, the same brackets run from $0.15 per $100 to $1.25 per $100.¹⁷ On a $1,500,000 home sold to a non-owner-occupant buyer, the conveyance tax runs roughly $3,100.

HARPTA Withholding for Non-Resident Sellers

If you live outside Hawaii and sell property here, the escrow company must withhold 7.25% of the total sale price and remit it to the Hawaii Department of Taxation under the Hawaii Real Property Tax Act, codified at HRS Section 235-68.¹⁸ The withholding isn’t an extra tax; it’s an advance payment toward your Hawaii income tax liability on the capital gain. If the actual tax owed is less than 7.25% of the gross price, you claim a refund when you file your Hawaii return.

HARPTA applies to individuals residing outside Hawaii, corporations formed in other states, and trusts with non-resident trustees. Sellers subject to both HARPTA and the federal FIRPTA withholding (for foreign persons) face a combined upfront withholding that can tie up a substantial portion of sale proceeds. Plan for the cash flow impact well before closing.

1
City and County of Honolulu. Real Property Tax Rates for Tax Year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026
2
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. An Analysis of Real Property Tax in Hawaii
3
Kauai County. Resolution No. 2025-21 Real Property Tax Rates FY 2025-2026
4
Maui County, HI. Real Property Tax Rates
5
County of Hawaiʻi Real Property Tax Office. Appeal Information
6
Maui County, HI. Frequently Asked Questions – Home Exemption
7
Kauai County. Real Property Tax Relief and Exemptions Deadline for the Upcoming 2026 Assessments Is Sept. 30, 2025
8
Maui County, HI. Frequently Asked Questions – Circuit Breaker Credit
9
Maui County, HI. Dates to Remember
10
County of Hawaiʻi Real Property Tax Office. Payments
11
Maui County, HI. Delinquent Tax Accounts
12
Hawaii County Real Property Tax Division. Tax Sale Frequently Asked Questions
13
City and County of Honolulu. Appeal Information
14
Maui County, HI. Appeals
15
Kauai County, HI. Board of Review
16
Hawaii Department of Taxation. Chapter 232 HRS – Tax Appeals
17
Hawaii Department of Taxation. Chapter 247 HRS – Conveyance Tax
18
Justia Law. Hawaii Revised Statutes Title 14 Chapter 235 Section 235-68 – Withholding of Tax on the Disposition of Hawaii Real Property